Recent Progress in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Photosensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy

Ziqi Li; Jianjun Lu; Xuping Li

doi:10.1002/chem.202401001

Recent Progress in Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Photosensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy

Chemistry. 2024 May 14:e202401001. doi: 10.1002/chem.202401001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ziqi Li¹, Jianjun Lu², Xuping Li³

Affiliations

¹ Taiyuan University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, CHINA.
² taiyuan keji daxue, State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, CHINA.
³ Inner Mongolia University, College of Energy materials and Chemistry, West University Road 235, 010070, Hohhot, CHINA.

PMID: 38742479
DOI: 10.1002/chem.202401001

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a rapidly growing discipline that is expected to become an encouraging noninvasive therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. In the PDT process, an efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) process for photosensitizers from the singlet excited state (S1) to the triplet excited state (T1) is critical for the formation of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species and improvement of PDT performance. Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules featuring an extremely small singlet-triplet energy gap and an efficient ISC process represent an enormous breakthrough for the PDT process. Consequently, the development of advanced TADF photosensitizers has become increasingly crucial and pressing. The most recent developments in TADF photosensitizers aimed at enhancing PDT efficiency for bio-applications are presented in this review. TADF photosensitizers with water dispersibility, targeting ability, activatable ability, and two-photon excitation properties are highlighted. Furthermore, the future challenges and perspectives of TADF photosensitizers in PDT are proposed.

Keywords: thermally activated delayed fluorescence * photodynamic therapy * photosensitizers.